Since I was going to discuss both teams I didn't want to start a new thread, and I believe some of what I wanted to say fell within the confines of this room anyway.

1st. Has anyone noticed that the Lions haven't gotten to the Qb like last year? They've created pressure but not sacks! I may be off on this but it seems to me, Suh alone was meeting at the QB more often, this year not so much.

2nd. I saw where a lions fan had claimed that Smith had a noodle arm, but let me ask if it really matters. If you throw the ball when it matters, i.e. the winning touchdown, does it matter that he can't throw the ball 60 yds? Stafford can throw 60 yds and he was wide right on Calvin. What Alex did was manage the game, not make any mistakes, and get the ball to the play maker who happend to be the RB's.

3rd. SF has shown what an almost complete team with a solid coach can do. Had we been able to shut down the run, and make them one dimentional, Mr. SMith would have been highlighted for his "noodle" arm. But it wasn't the case. Now we've illustrated via San Fran and others how to beat us.

4th. I'm not going to down play the Lions, because they've ignited hope in a city that didn't have any. They've generated life like rain to the desert, and that is awesome for Michigan, and great for Lions fans. I don't have answers on how to get more aggressive with the defense so that we can begin meeting at the QB, but we've got go along for the ride, hoping our brilliant coaching staff will get it figured out.

Finally, Congrats again to SF, you have a bright future in a weak division, and will only get stronger as the year goes on, barring injuries. It was great to see such a physical contest, that was like watching two heavy weights trade shots. We'll meet again, and well let's hope for another great game.

1. Yes. I would say a lot of this has to do with scheme adjustments by the opposing OC. QB's are getting rid of the ball a lot faster and for good reason, just look at what happened to the QBs on team who hold onto the ball for deeper patterns (Brady, Rodgers).

2. Not make any mistakes? Smith had two turnovers (fumble and big INT), Staff had zero turnovers.

3. I don't think the "formula" on how to beat the Lions was unknown, it is just that SF had the right team to do it. Even still, this came down to a fourth-and-goal that barely broke the plane when the runners knee went down.

4. Gunther can always dial up more blitzing. I realize they are really trying to just generate pressure with the front four which I think they have done. Also, the blitzing may have lead to more sacks last year but there is the downside as well.

5. Agreed. We need to give full credit to SF for overcoming all the penalties, turnovers, and crowd. Great job San Fran.

I get it, the 9ers are a great team and it sucked losing to them but it's time to worry about ATL who I think resembles SF in a few ways.

_________________Just one Super Bowl win before I go!

October 18th, 2011, 3:49 pm

kdsberman

League MVP

Joined: February 20th, 2007, 10:51 pmPosts: 3485Location: Saginaw, MI

Re: GAMEDAY THREAD: Lions vs. 49ers

Killwill25 wrote:

I get it, the 9ers are a great team and it sucked losing to them but it's time to worry about ATL who I think resembles SF in a few ways.

I agree. Its Tuesday. Time to reload and get after the Falcons.

October 18th, 2011, 4:31 pm

inheritedlionsfan

League MVP

Joined: January 13th, 2006, 4:18 amPosts: 3632Location: Maryland

Re: GAMEDAY THREAD: Lions vs. 49ers

"Kudos to NFC West colleague Mike Sando for eliciting a rare admission from the NFL regarding a call we discussed in our earlier Dirty Laundry post.

As you recall, referee Mike Carey's crew spotted the ball five yards away from where the San Francisco 49ers' Ted Ginn went out of bounds at the end of a critical punt return in the fourth quarter of the Detroit Lions' 25-19 loss.

Here is the NFL's statement: "The officiating crew incorrectly spotted the ball at the Detroit 35 instead of the 40 where Ted Ginn went out of bounds."

So there you go. I'm not sure that spot was the difference in the game, but it did put the 49ers five yards closer to their eventual game-winning touchdown.

The league didn't comment on the pair of possible illegal blocks that occurred on the play, which is not unusual. Those calls are subjective. Marking the line of scrimmage is an objective exercise, and it was simply a mistake."

A follow up on my previous post. Looks like the 9ers did get 5 free yards.

October 18th, 2011, 9:13 pm

thelomasbrowns

Player of the Year - Defense

Joined: August 24th, 2010, 9:54 pmPosts: 2822

Re: GAMEDAY THREAD: Lions vs. 49ers

The best revenge on the Niners is to finish with a better record and go further in the playoffs. Make it happen, fellas.

_________________"Good teams don't worry about a whole lot of stuff. They travel, they play, they win. And it doesn't matter where they go, what the time block is, all those kinds of things. They never seem to bother teams that play well, and we want to be one of those teams." -Jim Caldwell

October 18th, 2011, 9:36 pm

The Legend

HC – Jim Caldwell

Joined: February 11th, 2005, 3:01 pmPosts: 4699Location: WSU

Re: GAMEDAY THREAD: Lions vs. 49ers

I watched 3/5 of the 49ers games before last weeks game vs Lions. I think the 49ers caught us off guard in a few situations.

1. The 49ers spread shotgun offense - hadnt seen this in any of the other games and I bet we didnt expect it given their personnel issues at WR (Edwards/Morgan out and Crabtree coming off injury) but they ran it with jumbo personnel their HBACK (#49) and 2 TEs Walker and Davis. This let them come lineup in either 2 TE I formation or spread formations and we didnt know how best to matchup with them in our base personnel or what plays they might run.

2. The other thing was with their run game - on the tapes I saw the niners run plays almost always followed the direction of 1 or both pulling guards with little misdirection it was a pure power run game. However in our game if you watched on TV analyst Daryl Johnston wondered why Suh and others kept going the wrong way which they were. Most likely the game plan taught them to follow the pulling guards but in the game the niners often sent the runner to the area the guard pulled from and had cut back lanes because the defender was also vacating that position.

October 18th, 2011, 10:31 pm

modninerfan

Pop Warner Rookie

Joined: October 12th, 2011, 6:52 pmPosts: 104Location: Modesto, CA

Re: GAMEDAY THREAD: Lions vs. 49ers

The Legend wrote:

I watched 3/5 of the 49ers games before last weeks game vs Lions. I think the 49ers caught us off guard in a few situations.

1. The 49ers spread shotgun offense - hadnt seen this in any of the other games and I bet we didnt expect it given their personnel issues at WR (Edwards/Morgan out and Crabtree coming off injury) but they ran it with jumbo personnel their HBACK (#49) and 2 TEs Walker and Davis. This let them come lineup in either 2 TE I formation or spread formations and we didnt know how best to matchup with them in our base personnel or what plays they might run.

2. The other thing was with their run game - on the tapes I saw the niners run plays almost always followed the direction of 1 or both pulling guards with little misdirection it was a pure power run game. However in our game if you watched on TV analyst Daryl Johnston wondered why Suh and others kept going the wrong way which they were. Most likely the game plan taught them to follow the pulling guards but in the game the niners often sent the runner to the area the guard pulled from and had cut back lanes because the defender was also vacating that position.

All of this sums up the biggest difference between Singletary and Harbaugh... Unlike Singletary, Harbaugh puts the players in a position to succeed. In the past we would always follow the pulling lineman, we would always run up the gut and we would just about always run on first down. Of course the defense realized this and shut down the run causing alex to play 3rd and +10. This team had the talent, just not the coaching staff to put it all together. Alex is still a weak spot... but this year he has made it happen when it counts.

_________________“Jim's a dynamic man with incredible determination, willpower and energy. He's the ultimate in a driven person who has high expectations. The people around him respond. He's on the cutting edge with an outstanding football mind.” - Bill Walsh

October 19th, 2011, 7:17 pm

DJ-B

Pro Bowl Player

Joined: April 5th, 2007, 5:51 pmPosts: 2563

Re: GAMEDAY THREAD: Lions vs. 49ers

modninerfan wrote:

The Legend wrote:

I watched 3/5 of the 49ers games before last weeks game vs Lions. I think the 49ers caught us off guard in a few situations.

1. The 49ers spread shotgun offense - hadnt seen this in any of the other games and I bet we didnt expect it given their personnel issues at WR (Edwards/Morgan out and Crabtree coming off injury) but they ran it with jumbo personnel their HBACK (#49) and 2 TEs Walker and Davis. This let them come lineup in either 2 TE I formation or spread formations and we didnt know how best to matchup with them in our base personnel or what plays they might run.

2. The other thing was with their run game - on the tapes I saw the niners run plays almost always followed the direction of 1 or both pulling guards with little misdirection it was a pure power run game. However in our game if you watched on TV analyst Daryl Johnston wondered why Suh and others kept going the wrong way which they were. Most likely the game plan taught them to follow the pulling guards but in the game the niners often sent the runner to the area the guard pulled from and had cut back lanes because the defender was also vacating that position.

All of this sums up the biggest difference between Singletary and Harbaugh... Unlike Singletary, Harbaugh puts the players in a position to succeed. In the past we would always follow the pulling lineman, we would always run up the gut and we would just about always run on first down. Of course the defense realized this and shut down the run causing alex to play 3rd and +10. This team had the talent, just not the coaching staff to put it all together. Alex is still a weak spot... but this year he has made it happen when it counts.

Agreed. Watching the niners under singletary i always wondered how he was able to get so little out of a decent talent base. Harbaugh has already surpassed his abilities as an NFL head coach.